1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the blanking off or covering of the end of a launching tube, which in practice is mobile, for a missile, rocket or similar munition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is known, there are tubes or boxes which are used both for storing a munition and also for its launching. In order to avoid, before launching, any penetration into the tube of undesirable products likely to disturb the launching phase, sometimes with dramatic consequences, it is known to equip the launching tube, after having introduced the munition, with caps by blanking off the front and rear ends. In this manner, including possible operations in a hostile environment, the operator now only has to check the completeness of the caps to ascertain at the moment of firing the correct state of cleanliness of his weapon.
These caps or blanking-off elements may be of several types, depending on whether their detachment with respect to the tube end which they blank off occurs automatically before firing (one sometimes speaks of "doors") or at the very beginning of firing.
The first case corresponds most frequently to heavy weapons in practice configured as a battery. Thus, for example, French Patent No. 2,626,808, which relates to missile containers especially on board battleships, and French Patent No. 2,555,725, which relates to missile systems "containerized" on vehicles, on land or on ship, provide for articulated covers or doors.
The second case corresponds in practice to light weapons, for example carried and manipulated by their operator. The detachment of the front end of the launching tube is then performed by the ejection fragmentation of the blanking-off element. In fact, there are several cases in which ejection or fragmentation results from the action of a pyrotechnical element or an explosive cord triggered at the moment of firing (see for example French Patent No. 2,555,725 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,301,708 and 3,962,951), from the pressure of the gases caused by the firing (see in particular German Patent No. 1,016,603, European Patent No. 0,022,756 and French Patent No. 2,230,955) or the thrust exerted by the nose itself of the munition being launched (see in particular European Patent No. 0,434,938, French Patent Nos. 1,436,333 and 2,038,112, British Patent No. 1,206,945 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,368). When there is fragmentation, the retention of all or part of the fragments may be provided for at the periphery of the end of the tube in question (see for example the above-mentioned French Patent No. 1,436,333 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,368, or again the above-mentioned French Patent No. 2,620,808 which provides for a substantial reblanking-off of the rear end of missile launching containers mounted in battery).
These various known solutions, with the detachment of the ends at the very moment of firing, have the drawback of inevitably producing debris, which is ejected in an uncontrolled manner, and compromises the level of protection which the blanking-off element in question has to ensure. Furthermore, these solutions are normally complex.
The object of the invention is to alleviate the above-mentioned disadvantages thanks to a blanking-off element for at least one of the ends, especially the front end, of a munition storage and launching tube, which is preferably portable, and which may, despite its simple construction, ensure in the storage phase, in combination with the tube itself, a high and lasting level of protection in the course of time with respect to climatic, mechanical, electromagnetic, nuclear, biological and/or chemical attacks, while guaranteeing in a reliable manner, even after a long storage period (which may typically reach, or even exceed, 10 years), the complete clearance of the end under the action of the pressure front occurring at the moment of firing, and without the uncontrolled ejection of debris and without any risk to the operator of the tube.